Camp married in 1911, but his young wife was taken by the influenzaepidemic of 1918. Camp was at the time an occasional contributor of fantastical stories to Collier's Weekly, but after his wife's death he became more reclusive and cultivated a quiet cynicism. It was around this time that Camp wrote his satires Tom Tinkerson and Macherus. By the time the latter was published, Camp's health was already failing, and he published only a few more critical essays before his death in 1936 at the age of 51.